


A Really Nice Holiday Season

by CinnamonLily



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Stiles Stilinski, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Werewolves, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Omega Peter Hale, Pining, Traditions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21812986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinnamonLily/pseuds/CinnamonLily
Summary: Peter is an omega past his prime. He's been in love with his nephew's best friend since Stiles presented as an alpha. Peter knows there are dozens of reasons why he'll never get what he wants. The only thing Peter hasn't considered is what Stiles might want, now that he's of age. Maybe they both get their holiday miracle, after all?
Relationships: Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Kudos: 870
Collections: The Steter Network





	A Really Nice Holiday Season

Peter looked out of the diner window and wondered how his life had come to this. People were rushing back and forth, some carrying large bags, obviously filled to the brim with presents.

Talia expected him to be around for the traditional Yule celebration at her house, but Peter… wasn’t feeling the holiday spirit this year.

He’d turned thirty-eight this year, and the longer he kept pining after a certain young alpha, the longer he was a useless omega. By now, he was officially past his prime, and he would never saddle someone as bright and brilliant as….

“Peter, do you mind if I sit?” Sheriff Stilinski asked, gesturing at the seat across from him.

“No, of course not.” Peter smiled at John. They were good friends, as John had never looked at Peter as an omega first and a person second.

With a deep sigh, John placed his Caesar salad and a very large coffee on the table and took a seat.

“Holidays getting you down?” John raised a brow at him.

“Yeah, it is what it is, you know? I’m getting old, tired, and jaded.” Peter chuckled and looked out of the window. “I know it’s not easy for them either, out there, but they look like they’re handling their lives better.”

“Better than who? You?” John snorted. “You’re on the city council, as a first omega ever. You’ve held that seat for a better part of a decade now, Peter. Don’t you think there’s a reason why they keep re-electing you?”

“Eye candy?” Peter snarked, making John chuckle. “I guess so. It’s just… sometimes I wonder what I’m missing for not having done the right thing.”

“I can hear the quotation marks. That’s Talia’s right thing, Peter. It never was yours.”

“Screw you, I’ve clearly had too many lunches with you.” Peter stuck his tongue out at John.

John laughed as he continued to enjoy his meal.

“Does a Caesar salad count as a healthy meal according to Stiles?” Peter asked, raising a brow at the mess of not-so-healthy goods on John’s plate.

“I promised him I’d eat a salad, so technically yes.”

Peter chuckled. It was an ongoing battle between the two alphas of the Stilinski household.

John’s wife, Claudia, had been an omega and one of Peter’s closest friends. When she’d passed away much too young, she’d left a huge gap in all their lives. Peter had promised her to keep an eye out for her husband and her son, who hadn’t presented yet.

To everyone’s surprise—except Peter’s—Stiles had ended up presenting as an alpha once he started puberty. He’d become the best friend of Peter’s nephew Derek who was blessedly a beta and thus outside his mother’s power plays unlike his sisters Laura and Cora who were both alphas.

And now, Stiles had turned nineteen, which was the official age of maturity for alphas. Soon, he’d find an omega, get bonded, and start a family. As he should, really. Having someone fun and a bit crazy like Stiles as a father would be a dream come true for any child.

Those weren’t the qualities Peter thought were Stiles’s best ones, though. No. Peter adored the way Stiles was a good, traditional alpha with a modern twist. He took care of people he thought were his, and he also never, ever thought people deserved his respect based on being older alphas. That was one of the reasons Talia disliked him, even though she tried to hide it.

Stiles had also always been incredibly protective of the omegas in his life. He didn’t suffocate them with care, not even the omega next door, Scott, who had always been weaker than his peers due to a health condition. No, Stiles made sure everyone was “living their best life” and if they needed something, Stiles would do his best to provide.

Peter had first hand experience of that on a couple of occasions. Once, when he’d gotten a godawful flu and his sister hadn’t wanted to risk helping out or letting her kids do it and Stiles had been at Peter’s door within an hour, as soon as Derek had let him know what was going on.

Stiles at seventeen had been more of a real alpha than Talia would ever be, despite all her posturing.

The second occasion had happened only a few months ago. Peter had been having a nice enough evening at Jungle, the local “omega friendly” bar gay club. He’d danced some, just genuinely having a good time.

He hadn’t noticed the two alphaholes following him out when he left, though. He barely made it to his car when they were in his face and, well, there was the pepper spray John had given him and the slightly less legal Taser Stiles had given him, but then suddenly Stiles had burst out of the door of the club.

The way Stiles used his alpha status to seem bigger and stronger than he was made the two older alphas quake.

“He yours, then?” The one Peter hadn’t pepper sprayed yet had asked, sneering.

“No, he’s not, but he’s not yours either,” Stiles had spat at the man, and he’d dragged his friend away.

That wasn’t the first time Peter had hoped Stiles had replied yes. No, all that had started when Stiles was only sixteen. The low thrum of Peter’s omega being attracted to Stiles had been there since the poor boy was fourteen and presented.

Peter the man knew that even if their age gap hadn’t been quite as significant, everyone was a child at fourteen. Hell, even know, with Stiles being nineteen and a legal adult and an “of age” alpha, he… wasn’t going to do anything about his feelings.

Because the bottom line was, Stiles was an alpha in his prime and Peter was old news, a useless, unable to conceive even if he wanted to omega. Male omegas normally went barren around thirty-five, and Peter had never, ever even wanted children. So even if he now somehow did, well, he couldn’t anyway.

Stiles loved kids. That was another thing Peter loved about Stiles, actually. Seeing him around the kids they both knew was… heartwarming. It was obvious Stiles was meant to be a dad.

“Well,” John said suddenly, startling Peter form his morbid thoughts. John wiped his mouth and pushed his now empty plate away, then concentrated on his coffee. “Who knows, maybe this is your year to have a really nice holiday season after all?”

Peter huffed. “Yeah, if you see cows flying around when you head back to the station, give me a call.”

Because Talia was nothing if not pretentious, she held an annual “pre-Yule” party at her massive house in the nicest part of Beacon Hills. Peter, being the youngest of his siblings and an omega, had gotten the more modest old house in their grandmother’s will. His property was against the preserve and since he loved the woods, he wasn’t at all upset about that.

It did mean that he had to drive all the way to Talia’s that evening, though.

He didn’t want to be there, and from the beginning, his nieces and nephew knew that. They played shield, blocking Talia whenever she tried to be snarky at Peter before the guests started to arrive.

But then the party was at full swing and Peter had to shake hands and appear much, much more nice than he actually was. Why? Because omegas needed to be seen, not heard. Yeah, good luck with that….

By the time the last stragglers had arrived, Peter was already incredibly done with the posturing and the looks Talia kept shooting his way every time one of the mysteriously single alphas that were new this year slunk away from Peter’s sharp tongue.

Then, the doorbell rang, and Talia, looking put out, excused herself and went to answer it.

Peter was crossing the hall to go hide in the kitchen for a while, when he heard ever so familiar voice greet Talia.

“Talia, I’m sorry I’m late. I had a car problem,” Stiles said.

“Oh, Stiles, erm….”

“Don’t worry, I won’t take much of your time, but I need to speak with you.”

Suddenly Derek was there, pushing Peter toward the hall and the front door. Peter shot a glare at his nephew who looked smug for some reason.

“Go on, you’ll love this,” Derek assured him.

Peter stepped next to Talia. “What’s going on?” he asked Talia and the nervous-looking young alpha standing at the doorstep.

“I don’t know, Stiles said something—”

“Peter, there you are,” Stiles said brightly. “Good timing. Thanks Der!”

Peter frowned, still having no clue what was going on.

“What—” Talia started, sounding ticked off, but Stiles cut her off again.

“Alpha Talia Hale,” he said in his alpha tone. “Since you are the family alpha of omega Peter Hale, I would like to ask your permission to start courting your brother, with the intention of bonding, if that is what Peter also wants.”

Peter stood there, slack-jawed, staring at Stiles. Then the fact that Talia was silent struck him as odd, and he looked at his sister who seemed truly, honestly speechless.

At that point, since the front door was still open, some of her guests had realized something was going on and were rubber necking behind them.

“Uh—”

“I know you like to do things traditionally in your family,” Stiles said calmly, his whole attention with Talia. “So I wanted to do this properly. Since I am now of age, have education and a part time job lined up, I can provide for an omega”—he quickly looked at Peter and continued—“not that Peter needs my help with that.”

“I… uh….”

“I believe the traditional way to phrase that, sister dearest, is ‘I grant my permission for you to court the omega under my protection, Alpha Stilinski.” Peter smirked.

“Y-yes, of course. You have my permission, Stiles, uh, excuse me,” Talia managed to say before escaping into the house.

Peter could hear her say something about powdering her nose. Poor big sister, all flustered like that.

Peter stepped outside and pulled the door closed.

“If you don’t want to…,” Stiles started, looking abashed now. He was wearing a surprisingly nice suit and had clearly tried to tame his hair, too.

“Oh sweet boy, there’s nothing I want more than to be your omega,” Peter murmured. “And for once, I’m not going to ask if you’re sure, because you, my alpha, never do anything you’re not sure about. Not where it counts.”

“Good.” Stiles’s voice was all alpha when he said, “I believe the first step is to take you out to a proper dinner to show I can provide for you.”

Peter grinned. “Does ordering Chinese count? The Silver Dragon delivers to my house, far at the edge of town as it is.”

“Chinese sounds lovely.” Stiles reached for his hand and turned to the cars parked on Talia’s ostentatious front yard. Then he stopped and laughed. “Can we take your car? I wasn’t lying about car trouble, I had to walk here half of the way from dad’s place.”

Peter tugged him close then and kissed him softly on the lips. “Yeah, we can take my car.”

As soon as he got behind the wheel, Peter realized something. “Wait, your dad knew?”

“Of course he knew. I’ve only been talking about turning nineteen and asking to court you since I was thirteen,” Stiles said in a very obvious “duh” tone.

The doubts and questions started to whirl in Peter’s head then. As always, Stiles could tell. He took Peter’s hand into his and tugged gently until Peter looked at him.

“Peter Hale, I’ve been in love with you for as long as I remember. This isn’t something new. It’s not something I haven’t overthought for years, looked at every possible angle and outcome.”

“B-but kids, you’re so good with them,” Peter said weakly, because it was his main concern.

“Peter, you don’t like children,” Stiles said as if it explained everything.

“Yeah, but you’re great with—”

“Other people’s kids. The ones I can borrow and give back at will. I’ve never wanted my own.”

Peter had no idea how he’d missed that. A relief that felt like a punch to his gut swept over him and he slumped in his seat.

“Anything else?” Stiles grinned. “Or can we go and eat, and then maybe skip the next few steps, because it’s not like we’re not in this already.”

“What, no presents and dates and more food before you g—” Peter closed his mouth with a snap, and to his horror, blushed.

Stiles threw back his head and laughed with delight. “Before I give you my knot? Oh, omega mine, all you need to do is ask.”

Still feeling flustered, Peter started the car. He felt hopeful and happy, and for the first time in a long time, he really looked forward to the new year.

“Peter?” Stiles said quietly, waiting for him to make eye contact. “At your pace, okay? I’ve been waiting for this for a long time, but it’s still a big step and if you want the traditional route….”

“I’ve been waiting, too.” Peter squeezed Stiles’s thigh as he drove the car out of Talia’s property.

He didn’t tell Stiles that he hadn’t been knotted by anyone since Stiles presented. He’d had a couple of alpha fuck buddies in his younger days that he’d trusted enough to experiment with. But as soon as his omega latched onto Stiles, he hadn’t indulged, because it had felt like something to save for his alpha. He knew that if Stiles had chosen someone else, gotten himself another omega, Peter would have likely gone back to his old ways.

Now, the waiting was over. Peter’s omega knew it, and he felt the wetness slowly seeping out of him.

“I can smell you, you know,” Stiles said in a slightly strangled tone when they were about a mile from Peter’s house.

“Should we maybe hold that Chinese until… after?” Peter felt proud of being able to form a sentence and drive a car at the same time.

“A-after, after is good.”

And after it was.

**Author's Note:**

> This came to me as I was putting up my tree. I wrote it in one sitting and all the mistakes remaining are all mine.  
> I've been mostly working on my original fiction lately, so writing fic felt nice!  
> (And there's a Steter Secret Santa fic coming soon, too!)
> 
> As always, thanks for reading!


End file.
